Jenna Fryer at the AP first reported this weekend that Pat Tryson, crew chief for Kurt Busch has been effectively shut out of the Penske shop because of his announced defection to Michael Waltrip Racing next season.
The story quotes Penske VP of Operations Mike Nelson as saying “It really breaks down to 2009 vs. 2010. He’s not there for the discussions that we have about 2010. That’s a lot of what we’re doing at the shop right now.”
Essentially Tryson is relegated to performing his duties through e-mail and phone calls, though he is allowed at Penske’s Tuesday morning meetings.
Personally I have all the respect in the world for Penske Racing. I think it’s a great organization with a lot of smart people in charge. This move boggles my mind though.
This move says to me: “we’re more concerned about what happens next season than our chance to win a championship this season.”
Certainly the #2 crew is capable of handling everything that needs to be done before races. Car Chief Jeff Thousand is a NASCAR veteran, with experience as crew chief for Rusty Wallace. He is largely credited with the team’s increased performance this season. So by all means leadership is not an issue.
What this does do is throw off the team’s flow. They are used to working with and communicating to a certain person and now that is limited. Let’s be honest there is only so much you can do telecommuting. Being the leader of the team from your living room is not easy.
Certainly I understand the position Penske is in. They have a team leader leaving and he will take with him the knowledge he has accumulated at the organization. If that includes information for next season that could be a detriment to them. I guarantee the non-disclosure he’s signed will do little to keep information from passing on.
All that being said, I think there should have been a greater effort made in closing him out of discussions and work for next year (at least some of which he is probably already aware of), while keeping him at the shop. The other option was just releasing from his contract. A change in leadership at this point in the year could be bad for performance, but this move wasn’t a whole lot better.
I believe Tryson is committed to the team, but now he can only do so much.
500 Posts!
On a completely unrelated subject, this marks our 500th post! As always thank you for all your support. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Here’s hoping for another 500.
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on Sep 21st, 2009 at 6:06 am
As someone that has run many race teams, frankly, when a guy tells me he is leaving to join another team, dont let the door hit you in the back on the way out!
The damage they can do is very bad to an team. The guy is telling the team how much better its going to be where he’s heading, keying up good guys for the future, absorbing all the systems that are not normally taken on-board, it go’s on and on.
I can’t believe Penske is continuing on with this situation. They are being just to nice to a guy that is off down the road. Ok, not the best time, but hey, if you dont have a replacement, you need to look at your whole company anyway. I suspect they are being “nice” to KB ahead of any contract talks.
This situation won’t last the whole chase run-off time, it will just get worse and worse, and then look for the press release.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 6:49 am
congrats on 500 posts, keep up the great work.
ps
GO MARK MARTIN!!!!!
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 8:03 am
In a week of weird NASCAR news, this ranks right up there.
Penske apparently decided team security was more important than Kurt Busch’s chances in the Chase. So for the last ten races of the season the #2 team is forced to function with their crew chief effectively removed from race preparation. If Penske is so worried about Tryson’s loyalties and the sanctity of team operations, why not just terminate Tryson now? The current situation is an insult to Tryson’s professionalism, as well as to Busch, and makes the Penske organization seem more than a little paranoid.
But the timing the announcement of Tryson’s move to MWR also seemed unusual, and it was the event that set off the rest of this. Why couldn’t he reach an agreement in principle with Waltrip but keep the news quiet until season’s end. Why was it necessary to announce it now? And this piece of news followed the shuffling of Bootie Barker to another role at MWR in, another bit of weird timing.
Congratulations on your 500th post
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 9:29 am
Its not the first time this has happened is it? I understand both sides, MWR wants to make the announcement to make a news splash, and pump up the incoming Truex/Tryson combo.
At the same time I see Roger’s point of view, and I think he made the best decision possible. Trying to change race day crew chief’s would have been a bad idea IMO. My guess is they already know exactly what 9 cars they are taking to the next 9 races, and exaclty what initial set ups they are going to throw at them, so work at the shop is minimal for Tryson.
Also, we cant underestimate how much influence Kurt has on the situation, maybe he told Roger he wanted to keep Pat for the Chase.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 9:29 am
oh, and congrats on the 500th post,.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 9:30 am
I don’t think Tryson was fair to Kurt in the timing of this. Kurt has busted his butt all year to be where he is in points, and this is what he gets? He might as well kiss his chance to be the champ again good-bye. Probably why Penske is looking at 2010 instead of what’s at hand now. If Roger was smart, he would try to figure out why this happened, pay Tryson off, and say “see ya”. What a shame!
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 11:57 am
As a former insider at Penske Racing, I have been going back and forth whether to write this, because I still have many friends who work there. First, Pat Tryson is an incredibly talented crew chief to work with. I can understand his reasons for leaving though. Penske has this issue of perception over performance. What I mean by this is that Penske will not allow Pat or any other crew chief or team member to push the envelope of performance like Hendricks, Roush or JG. He realizes that he will never have a chance to win a championship with this mindset. This is also why Penske Racing will never win a championship, unless this line of thinking changes. Until they stop acting like a dysfunctional family, which if you work there, know this to be on the money, they will always be a second tier team. All RP cares about is that the lawn is taken care of, the racing facility appears to look neat and organized and that the cars are built to be show cars, not race cars. That being said is great, but they miss the other half of the equation, the performance half. This team is the epitome of “all show and no go”. To address the question of absorbing crew members when Pat leaves, Penske Racing, has a contractual agreement with all of their crew chiefs, they may not hire a crew member from the team for 1 year or will subject to legal action for breach of contract and face substantial financial penalties. Finally, Jeffrey Thousand was a great move and is definitely one reason for the performance gain this season, he is an awesome car chief and a great person to work with.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Journo & T.C.,
Congratulations on your 500th post.
If any race team had your record of excellence for reporting and commentary, they’d run away with the Chase. I am always informed and amused. Thank you.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 12:55 pm
penske wanted tryson gone but kurt bush begged to keep him cause he wants the same comfortable feel from the voice on his radio. Espn also told u this during the race. Kurt bush feels that on race day the gel between crew chief and driver is to good to mess with and feels he has a better chance to win chase instead of having a new crew chief who might not gel as good wth kurt on raceday. Maybe if u start watching the whole race u would already no that this is the case according to espn/abc.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
jeff if penske wont let any one push the envelope on performance than please explain the 90’s wth rusty winning all the time and if they werent pushin things, why so mny blown motors?rusty wins 10 times in one season but has 12 dnf’s.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 4:35 pm
wv mule sure not a problem. The biggest difference is that you have a different management team. If you notice the team’s performance has progressively worsened from the 90’s. Yes, we had an upswing again when Matt Borland and Ryan came on board, and again with Larry Carter and Rusty teamed up, but they too were hand cuffed from pushing the envelope, aero wise. So was Shane Wilson, he wasn’t afraid either, until he was sat down by management and read the riot act about how Penske Racing operates strictly following the letter of the rulebook, with no creative interpretation. Look how Shane has done at RCR now. But, back to the 90’s you may not know, but Penske reached outside, to Brandon Ash’s dad and his west coast motor shop to help their motor program, which there in house program was struggling at best. But since his help in the 90’s the Penske engine program is second to no one. The horsepower and reliability from there engine shop is to be commended. But what I was eluding to earlier, is that now, the new management, this is going back to 02 and 03 season to current, are essentially “job scared”. The issue is with middle management, which includes VP, engineering manager, and fab shop manager. They do not want to stick their necks out and push the envelope with these cars, aero or chassis. They enjoy their paychecks and do not want to jeopardize losing it. They live in fear if they get caught at the track, pushing the envelope such as Hendricks, JG, or Roush, that you will be fired on Monday, plain and simple. I can assure you I have been involved in and witnessed many heated discussions over this issue. So they take the safe road. So as you can see I am talking about the car assembly shop not the engine shop. If you have any more questions, I will try to answer them for you.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Perhaps Tryson wanted to give Penske time to find a replacement, the end of the season is too late to start looking and still be ready for Daytona. I also think that pulling him out of the shop was a slap in the face of Kurt Busch basically telling him that we are more concerned with 2010 then you actually winning a championship. My guess Pat will be gone by the end of Oct if not sooner unless the 2 is in the top 4 which will not happen. I am sure all the other teams are using the info for 2010 now not letting it sit on the shelf for next year.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Jeff nailed it. He was being very nice. For those of you that aren’t understanding what is going on at Penske it was real simple. The head engineer over there and a certain crew chief don’t like Tryson and basicly made it clear to Tryson he wouldn’t have a job over there come 2010. Tryson had no choice but to find what he could now given the current state of Nascar. Don’t get me wrong, I was pulling for Tryson to be gone long before this but this wasn’t in any way his doing. The Machievellian politics over at Penske is some of the most screwed up in Nascar. Another thing that Jeff got right was the issue of appearance over substance. You put those 2 issues and a couple of another minor things together and it is almost a vertical uphill battle for a crewchief over there to be competitive. I have been a Penske fan since the early 70’s and a Kurt Busch fan since he first was in the Exide Truck and the John Deere car. What I have seen since he went to Penske has about led me to hang up my Penske fandom. Roger may do great in the business world and open wheel but his Nascar operation is a disgrace.
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 7:44 pm
So we can call this the NASCAR Insiders 500, now, right? Congrats on your consistency and desire to win.
That said, in the office pool, I drew the slip that says, “Roger Penske will find a catalyst or create a catalyst that will relieve Pat Tryson of his duties. (See: Kurt Busch departure from Roush Racing.)”
What are my chances in the office pool?
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 11:08 pm
WOW, that is good stuff
Jeff
on Sep 21st, 2009 at 11:57 am
As a former insider at Penske Racing…
I am unworthy to comment, except to say, thank you Jeff for taking time to share that very interesting info. It makes sense, explains the guts … etc … kewl … cant this stuff anywhere else… thx.
on Sep 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 am
I too appreciate Jeff’s caring enough to write his posts on the Penske operation. It’s nice to be “up” on things instead of the usual drivel from the TV people.
on Sep 22nd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
jeff, thankyou for responding it was a very good one. I was a diehard rusty fan and would get frustrated wth all the blown motors. so sounds like penske is screwed up, hopefully rusty wont do the same with RWI and in a couple of years i can pull for RWI in cup. thanks again jeff.